José Andrés

Born in Asturias and raised in Barcelona, José Andrés has spent the last 15 years preaching the gospel of pimentón, jamón Ibérico and pan con tomate in the United States.

His popular Washington, D.C., restaurant Jaleo was one of the first critically and commercially successful tapas restaurants in America and continues to set the standard for other Spanish restaurants in the country. Andrés also has been credited with introducing Americans to both traditional and avant-garde Spanish cooking, particularly with his exclusive Washington, D.C.-based restaurant, minibar by josé andrés. Food & Wine hailed Andrés as the “hero of the Spanish revolution,” who “helped create the Spanish food boom in America.” The late R.W. Apple of The New York Times called him “the boy wonder of culinary Washington.”

Already a celebrity in D.C., Andrés is also a television star in Spain, where his production Vamos a Cocinar on Televisión Espańola (TVE) is the country’s most popular cooking program, revolutionizing food television in Spain. In fall 2008, Clarkson Potter will publish a companion cookbook to the Made in Spain series.

Andrés is chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup, the management company for Washington, D.C.’s, popular dining spots Café Atlántico, Zaytinya, Oyamel, Jaleo and minibar by josé andrés. ThinkFoodGroup oversees all of Andrés’ creative endeavors such as cookbooks, television programming, consulting and restaurant projects.